


A Wolf in the Night

by kijilinn



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Gen, Hunting, Japanese Mythology - Freeform, Monsters, boneyard, hungry dead, native american characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-07
Updated: 2016-06-07
Packaged: 2018-07-12 22:11:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7124389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kijilinn/pseuds/kijilinn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean and Sam run afoul of a monster. Who saves them? They're not even sure.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Wolf in the Night

About half an hour after sunset, movement in the bushes brought Sam to full consciousness. He rolled quickly to pull his long legs under himself and threw a small rock against the side of his brother's head. "Dean. We've got company."

He brother grunted and rolled onto his stomach, "Great." Dean wrapped his fingers around the grip of his pistol and pushed himself to his knees. "Any sight of it?"

"No, just heard it." The brothers crouched back-to-back with weapons ready. They had been tracking this creature for almost a week now, working from obscure reports and rumors of something harassing hikers and campers in the woods outside <native american location>. The locals were talking about flying creatures and walking skeletons, but the residents of the reservation whispered about older, more dangerous things. The hungry dead, victims of an old spirit of famine. Three nights in the wilderness had yielded little more than wolf kills and the occasional bear scat.

A line of salt surrounded their campsite and Sam's shotgun was loaded with rock salt. Dean's pistol held silver bullets and an iron crowbar leaned against his hip. They were prepared for most things they were familiar with.

But no normal hunter would have been prepared for what reared out of the undergrowth.

A bare, skeletal head lifted several feet out of the bushes and stared at them from empty eye sockets. Something rattled like a diamondback to the side of them. The vaguely human skull was perched on a column of vertebrae far too long for anything native to North America and the whole length of it swayed slowly from side to side, watching them.

"Son of a bitch," breathed Dean. "What is it?"

"No idea." Sam leveled his shotgun and fired. The blast of rock salt impacted the skull and the creature bucked backwards with a hollow rattling sound. They could see smoking holes pitting the white surface as the skull rounded back on them and the column of vertebrae began to writhe.

"Oh, shit."

"Run!" Dean grabbed for Sam's shirt and dragged his brother backward and off balance, just enough to avoid the strike of the skull when it jerked toward them. Sam cocked the shotgun again and tried to take aim, but Dean snapped, "Now, Sam!"

They sprinted to the path out of camp. Too late, Sam shouted and Dean blundered over the length of writhing bone across the path. It crunched ominously. Whatever this thing was, it had encircled their entire campsite in a sinuous expanse of vertebrae.

"The hell do we do, Sammy?"

"Damn if I know!" Sam shouted back. They pulled together and stared as the coils of bone tightened around them and the battered, pitted skull rose over them again. Its jaw rattled like a cat chattering excitedly at birds on a feeder.

"Get down!" a voice shouted.

The Winchesters ducked instinctively, hands over their necks protectively. Something exploded above them and the monstrosity rattled like deadwood. A brilliant light hovered overhead and Sam peeked up long enough to see the coils of bone receding from the path. "This way," the same voice called from their left. Dean made eye contact with his younger brother, nodded, and they darted after their rescuer.

"Don't stop," the voice instructed, cool and collected but firm. They obeyed. The figure running ahead of them was vaguely around their height, broad shouldered and muscled. They stayed close on its heels. The figure dodged through a few more tight turns, almost losing the brothers in the process, but the rattle of dry bones and leaves was finally starting to fade behind them. As they tumbled out into an empty parking lot, their rescuer turned to face them. "You truly are morons."

"Thanks," Dean said sardonically.

"You're welcome." Their rescuer stood up tall, easily meeting Sam's eyes. His own eyes were jet black, iris blending seamlessly into the pupil. Long, straight hair was braided down his back, almost to his waist and was glossy black as well. His russet skin deepened to the warm darkness of freshly turned earth in a farmer's tan along his arms and over his high cheekbones. Both Winchesters were taken aback by the stunning beauty of this man who had appeared exactly when they needed him. "Exactly what kind of morons go after a Gashadokuro with rock salt and cold iron?"

"A what-a-do-ku?" Dean blinked and Sam rolled his eyes.

"Gashadokuro are hungry skeletons, right?" the younger brother jumped in quickly. "From Shinto myth. What's it doing here?"

"You think the concept of ghosts rising to eat the living after famine is unique to Eastern Asia?" The man snorted in amusement. "The tribes here have been afraid of skeletons for centuries. They may have carried the concept with them over the land bridges. We don't even have a name for it in our native languages anymore. Just stories to not let anyone die without food." He crossed his arms and glared at them, "Of course, when your ancestors came, they made it a lot harder for my ancestors to keep up with such traditions. So..."

Dean puffed his chest like he was going to launch into an argument, but Sam put a hand on his brother's shoulder and sighed, shaking his head. "I'm Sam Winchester. This is my brother, Dean. We were trying to track that thing down and get rid of it. I guess we bit off more than we could chew."

"Most people call me Wolf," their rescuer smiled thinly. "Or Lupe. I would say it's good to meet you, but I'd be lying." He offered a hand to Sam, who shook it readily. "My best recommendation for you two right now is to get in that clunker of yours and get the hell out of the territory. Gashi might be distracted for now, but it's not going to last forever and they stay hungry. It's kind of in the name."

"Clunker!?" Dean cried. "I know you're not talking about Baby."

"Could you at least give us some advice for next time?" Sam ignored his brother's angry bluster and Wolf followed suit.

"Not here," he replied simply. "If you're serious, there's a coffee shop in town, off the highway. I'll be there tomorrow for breakfast, assuming I survive the night." Before either Winchester could answer, he turned and walked off into the darkness with a little wave over his shoulder.

"What a son of a bitch," Dean grumbled under his breath. Sam chuckled.

**Author's Note:**

> Wolf is an important character in my Catalyst series that I'm exploring in short pieces. If anyone's interested in reading more about him, please subscribe to this and I'll add more chapters. :) Thanks!


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